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Community Corner

TOWN REGISTRARS PROTECT FREEDOM OF SPEECH AT TOWN MEETING

The “Thumbs Up” awarded to the Bethel Registrars of Voters on the July 15th NewsTimes op-ed page was well-deserved.

Bethel’s Town Meeting form of government guarantees individuals a degree of political speech that is unequaled compared to alternative forms of local governance. We would hope that most Americans appreciate that our constitutionally protected right to freedom of speech is an essential precondition to a free and just society.

That said, the registrars’ role in in the July 7th reconvened Town Meeting was no less than heroic . An evenly divided meeting voted on the motion to call the question and halt further discussion. It was those registrars’ votes that defeated the motion to silence the voices of Bethel taxpayers who had been waiting to speak.

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Bethel voters need to protect that freedom from any actions, proposals, or Charter revisions purposely or inadvertently that lead us away from our current form of government.

It’s astonishing how intolerant budget supporters are of the taxpayers’ desire to comment on or question town spending. It is they who comprise the majority of the Town Meeting – some of them Town employees!

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It seems equally deserving that Our First and Second Selectmen as well as the Town Comptroller receive a “Thumbs Down,” as they stood up in support of the motion to cut off debate and silence the voices of the taxpayers who had come out to participate in the budget process.

One would think that after three budget rejections ,these three Town officials would invite input from the taxpayers they purportedly serve. However, their votes suggest otherwise.

Triple kudos to Nancy Ryan, Mary O’Leary and Joan Bradley! Many of us are proud of you for standing up for our right to speak and be heard!

Billy Michael

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